Game of Thrones: Why Ramsay's Inevitable Death Could Spell Trouble for the Starks

Ramsay Bolton (Iwan Rheon) has to die. There's no doubt about it.

The Game of Thronesvillain has been a constant source of vileness since he first appeared onscreen in Season 3. But who will be the lucky one to do him in?

Sansa Stark (Sophie Turner) or Jon Snow (Kit Harington) are the obvious choices. Sansa has more reason than anyone to want revenge against Ramsay, who began raping and beating her mercilessly the second they were wed. And Jon is gearing up to face Ramsay on the battlefield, where he could easily slay the newly-crowned Lord Bolton.

However, these options are so boringly predictable (which, to be fair, has kind of been Game of Thrones' M.O. as of late.) But the show is in desperate need of a legitimate twist, and Ramsay's death could provide the perfect means.

We know Littlefinger (Aidan Gillen) has rallied the Knights of the Vale to help in Sansa and Jon's war against the Boltons, but Petyr Baelish is not the type of man to do anything without personal gain. And what Littlefinger has repeatedly shown is that the thing he cares about most in the world is power, with Sansa possibly falling just shy of that.

Every terrible, horrible, no good, very bad thing Ramsay has done

But if Littlefinger wants to make good on his ambition to be Warden of the North, he would either have to eliminate the Starks or marry Sansa. Becoming Mr. Sansa Stark would likely be Littlefinger's dream come true, but he could be satisfied with Sansa becoming Queen of the North on her own, if he believed he could still manipulate her.

So, if controlling the North remains Petyr's end game, eliminating Ramsay would be the first step. However, Sansa's younger brother Rickon poses a huge threat to this plan. As the only known legitimate Stark boy left in Westeros, Rickon is first in line to inherit Winterfell. Meaning, Littlefinger would also have to eliminate Rickon if he wants either himself or Sansa to rule the North.

Although murdering two people, one of them a child, sounds like quite the arduous task, it's something Littlefinger could accomplish fairly easily. If the tide turns in Jon's favor during the Battle of the Bastards, Ramsay would likely choose to retreat to Winterfell in order to use Rickon as a Hail Mary attempt to weasel his way out of the situation alive. And if Littlefinger somehow makes it to Winterfell before Jon and Sansa, he could kill both Ramsay and Rickon with no one being the wiser to his true intentions.

When the Starks arrive to find their brother and enemy dead, Littlefinger could claim Ramsay had slaughtered Rickon before he had the chance to stop him. This not only would help pave the way for Littlefinger's and/or Sansa's rise to power, but it would also fit in line with Littlefinger's seemingly earnest desire to make amends with Sansa for marrying her off to Ramsay in the first place. Two birds, one murder weapon!

Sure, this theory is incredibly convoluted, but that's exactly how Littlefinger works. His complicated, long-con schemes can only be matched by Varys (Conleth Hill), and it's been far too long since we saw one in action. So while people always say the simplest answer is usually the right one, I'm praying that isn't the case when it comes to Ramsay's death.

Check out more theories on who may kill Ramsay in the video above!